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Jovians
Rumors The following information are what is passed around the alehouses and factories between those with little knowledge of the galaxy Rumors abound about the reclusive Jovian Imperium. To the uneducated, they are a mysterious people who exist only in legend and rumor. It is said that they control the galaxy's population like puppets from afar, and that they have an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Even more fanciful rumors abound. Basic level of Information The following information represents the basic level of information posessed by the layman The general populace of the Galaxy is passably well educated on the Jovians, given their (somewhat unwilling) time in the limelight; During the Core-Jovian war the populace was shown pictures of Jovians, so they could identify them and their ships if need be, though it never came to that. They still beleive the Jovians were responsible for the War Appearance The average citizen of the Galaxy knows what most Jovians looks like, with their slimy skin, stalked eyes and fleshy whiskers, most pictures they have seen are that of Orphaniel. Technology Much as the citizens of the galaxy were warned about the Jovians, so too did word spread about the punishingly advanced technological levels possessed by the Jovians, though the details of that are not generally known Advanced level of Information The following is the level of information that would be possessed by Anyone who has an active interest in galactic politics, the information is not generally known, but freely available to those willing to look. At this point one would know it was not the Jovians involved in the Core-Jovian war, but their enemy, the Garcillaens, thought long dead. Appearance People who do a little research or have worked for Supernova Shipyard know that Jovians differ depending on caste and that they have an extensive culture of enhancement both genetic and augmetic. Details beyond this are still unknown Technology At this level, Jovians are known to have intensely powerful jump-drives. It is known that they are completely unaffected by the Array's influence, which casts some manner of suspicion and awe upon them, though the Jovians deny they have anything to do with the Array. They have powerful stellar manipulation technology, high energy discharge weapons and shield technology, as well as peerless knowledge of mechanical augmentation and eugenics. Society Jovian Society is well known to be Utopian in nature, Led by an Emperor or Empress who is part of a special Royal Family caste and engineered to rule. Beyond this fact and the hint of the high standard of living, nothing is known. Extremely Advanced level of information This level of information is reserved for those in positions of power; faction leaders, high ranking generals and other important individuals, it cannot be accessed by the general populace, though they might be told by those who hold such offices as normal. Some of the Galaxy's highest ranking leaders have been told -candidly- by Orphaniel that the Jovians attempted to exterminate humanity millennia ago, but humanity survived the orbital bombardment and subsequent ice-age. It was this survival that prompted the investigation into Humanity that Orphaniel undertook under the guise of shipwright. People with this level of knowledge understand that if the Jovians truly had been the foe in the Jovian-core war, rather than the AI ships Rex managed to scrape up, then the war would have lasted days, not months, if even that long. Jovian Knowledge The following represents the knowledge that the Jovians themselves possess, as such it represents everything else noteworthy that is to be known. In this case it is the original, unaltered race biography, so there is some doubling up of information, for which I apologize. Everything not mentioned above is all but unknown to all but those that have independantly learned it in an IC manner through a Jovian. In this case, notable is the fact that everyone who was around during the Jovian Imperial Crusade would be aware of the Four Great virtues, at the least. Overview NOTE: Due to their reclusive nature, many details of Jovian Society are not known outside of the Jovian Imperium. When information is italic, then it is not general knowledge, and known only to Jovians and some select others who may be close to them '' The Jovians are a race of previously secluded, somewhat xenophobic Gas-Giant dwellers. Due to their mastery of Eugenics, their appearance and capabilities can vary wildly even within a particular caste, but generally speaking they are compared to bipedal squids or even catfish. They are incredibly advanced, intelligent and erudite. Their society is entirely unified: dissent is unheard of. The good of the Imperium is held above all and the Emperor's edicts are followed with enthusiasm. History The Jovian Imperium is an empire that has stood the test of time. Hundreds of Thousands of years ago they had a vast stellar empire. It was a true golden age not only for the jovians themselves, but for all their subject races; they led the galaxy much as Humans do now, though at far greater a scale. Eventually however, a sense of ennui set in in regards to the lesser races and over the course of several generations they slowly turned inward, going from overlords and leaders to reclusive xenophobes. Eventually, they were reduced almost to a point of legend; Jovian society continued, of course, and anyone approaching one of their worlds were politely but firmly warned off. Anyone pressing the issue was immediately destroyed. With such a separatist attitude the xenophobia only grew, as Jovians looked to the other races with ever increasing disdain - not a difficult task given the wars and unrest that was rife in a galaxy left with such an immense power vacuum. Eventually, the disgust reached such a level that in a sudden and unprecedented move, the Jovians exploded from their worlds, reducing all before them to ash; Other races had reached such a low view in the Jovians' eyes with all their conflict and their (to the Jovians) appalling quality of life that it was a mercy to exterminate them. This cycle of seclusion and destruction repeated itself dozens of times. The cycle was shaken, however, when Humanity survived it's first scouring. The preternaturally adaptive and inventive human people- neolithic at the time -adapted to the climate shifts the Jovian orbital bombardment inflicted upon them. When the Jovians became aware of this, close to the time they would emerge again for another extermination crusade, the foundations of their methodology was shaken: was this a sign from Chrinon that the humans were worthy? or was it a challenge. Emperor Orphaniel set out under the guise of a shipwright to assess humanity for himself. Briefly, things were good; Humans proved themselves barbaric and disgusting, with their dry flesh and constantly shedding epidermis, but ultimately good at heart. Enough so that the Jovians attempted to teach them the Four Great Virtues, so they might understand the favor that Chrinon had obviously showed them in his Grand Machinations. This offer was shortlived, however, as Orphaniel was assumed killed in a mysterious explosion. Luna Hatashi, his human lover, was also seemingly killed. The jovians turned inward, then, leaving Ragnarok through the Ascension gate. However Rex, an ancient remnant of a great enemy the Jovians had fought a millenia ago (Garcillaens) took this oppertunity to strike. It took control of the AI ships left to guard the ascension gate and assumed the identity of a Jovian Warmaster. Over the following months it led a campaign of annihilation and terror posing as a Jovian, Turning humanity against the ancient overlords of the galaxy, who were blind to these occurrences, grieving as they were for the two dead figureheads. Orphaniel was rescued however, from the rift-space where he had been trapped with Luna, and with his knowledge the truth was revealed. Now the Jovians maintain their pre-crusade stance of indifference to the galaxy, choosing to stay seperated in their homeworlds, however, more Jovians are leaving the homeworlds to explore the galaxy in earnest, driven by a curiosity about humanity and the other alien species inhabiting Ragnarok. Physical Description As stated above, Jovians are quite diverse, given their disposition towards genetic engineering and mechanical augmentation. All Jovians however, share certain traits (except for rare exceptions): They all have fleshy whiskers, like those of a catfish. They also all have universally slimy skin, though it is wet to the touch, it leaves no residue (Jovians tend to be quietly disgusted by the dry, flaky flesh of humans and other similar races). The majority of Jovians have eyes mounted on stalks and most Jovians are tall and slender. Mechanical Augmetics are so common that to find a Jovian without Augmetics is extremely rare ''outside of the Purebloods. Most of the time this takes the form of implanted computer-ware or rebreathers and will often relate to the Jovian's caste or chosen profession. Personality As with any sentient species, personality varies between individuals, but as with physical characteristics there are some parallels that can be drawn between all Jovians ; All Jovians are polite, well-spoken and quietly xenophobic. Even to their enemies, they will rarely uttery a directly unkind word, the most insulting thing a Jovian will do is simply inform someone they dislike them and then say nothing more. For they will not lie, but nor will they say things needlessly rude. Jovians are easily offended by those who do not follow these same high standards in regards to behavior, and they are slow to forget a slip of the tongue. Cultural influences Since contact was established in earnest with humanity, many cultural influences have crossed the gate into the Jovian homeworlds, who turned hungry for something exciting and different from another world. Jovians immersed themselves in Humanity's literary and visual history. In particular, animated television series, Classical music, Nordic Metal music, Christmas, Halloween, Tolkien's works and human food have proven popular. Luna Hatashi was also well received as the Emperor's lover; even with Jovian distaste for aliens in general the pragmatic species quickly overcame any initial disgust, Luna's trademark jumpsuit was immediately replicated by thousands of Jovians, though given Jovians females have no breasts, the space used to house the said anatomical feature was met initially with confusion, before being altered to serve as handy storage pouches. Reproduction Unsurprisingly, nothing is known about Jovian Reproduction outside of the Jovians themselves. Jovians do not reproduce sexually. Due to their skills in Eugenics such a thing became uneccecary millenia ago; now, Jovians reproduce exclusively with donations to gene-banks (with blood, get your mind out of the gutter). Occasionally, if a Jovian pair is particularly f ond of one another's continued company they might elect to specifically have a child created with their combined genes, and will raise it themselves. Other than that, the Jovian youth are raised en masse. The pragmatic Jovian people treat these parent-less young no different than those raised by a pair. Government The Jovians are ruled by the Emperess, Fhaleen, Though the society is so stable it almost runs itself. ''Most day-to-day decisions are left to the public to decide with an absolutely enormous system of polls. Voting on all but the most urgent subjects is not mandatory. Most Jovians check the system daily through their own augmetically implanted computer systems. Subjects most relevant to them are brought to their attention, but with searches and other browsing tools even the most unrelated polls can be voted upon. Those whom are most adversely affected or have the most knowledge in a given field are given more potent votes. For example in a vote about adding an extra intra-metro shuttle to a given line; Jovians who live and work in the area would receive more votes, aswell as transportation employees and those of the adminitrative caste. '' The Emperor's word, however, is law. There has never been dissent in the Jovian Imperium, even with such potentially divisive issues such as the Imperial Crusade. Technology Jovians are an extremely technologically adept race. Whilst their science can be reliably recognised as science to Humanity and other starfaring races, it is very much leagues ahead of those others. The fields of jumpdrives, stellar manipulation, cloning, augmetics and high energy discharge weaponry especially are well known to be espescially advanced. Their ships tend to be large and slow. Usually consisting of intricate gray substructure with gold piping and ice-blue illumination. This is covered by white curved panelling. Common features are spinally mounted ultra-high-power Beam Lasers, rapid fire Particle Lances and enormous missile batteries. They commonly house few but very potent turrets. ''All Jovian ships larger than a Corvette have a sort of AI built into it, actually the flash-scanned mind of a veteran Special Forces Caste volunteer (who might upload to a dozen or more ships) which manages basic systems, leaving the crew and pilots to take care of more important duties. It can take over complete control in the case of emergencies. '' Jovian ships will NEVER have cloaking or radar jamming, as it is seen as an affront to the Virtue of Truth to use such tactics. The Jovians have outlawed Inter-dimentional Travel for the enormous dangers and moral problems it represents, anyone found to be attempting such can expect a swift intervention Religon The Four Great Virtues is the name of the Jovian State Religon. For the Jovians, it encompases a way of being and the worship of Chrinon. Chrinon is known as He Whose Hands Have Shaped What Is. It is said that it was he who created the universe and everything in it, setting in motion every atom needed to produce the Jovians over the universe's current lifespan thus far. Critically, there is no divine intervention in Jovian religon, after the wheels were set in motion, Chrinon has done nothing but watch over his creation. This wordview prevents any kind of reliance on "fate" or favoritism on the God's part. The Jovian's state religon is absolute, there is no dissent. It is tied heavily into their every-day lives and the government in a healthy manner; there is no fear of progress, villification of science or undue interference, this all stems from Chrinon's own lack of interference in the tableau of his creation. The Jovians do, however, beleive with iron certainty that they are His Chosen, the ones upon whom he keeps a most keen eye; the ones who he has set up to succeed. The Four Great Virtues The Four Great Virtues represent the manner in which one must live in order to please Chrinon. To practise this religon, worship of -or even belief in- Chrinon's existence is not actually neccecary, so long as someone lives under the guidance of the Virtues, the Jovians will be happy: content that -whether the subjects in question beleive in him or not- Chrinon will be pleased The Virtue of Truth The virtue of truth embodies honesty, clarity and forthcomming nature. Notably, a Jovian will never lie, for that is a grave offense to the Virtue of Truth, those who tell lies are looked upon most unfavorably, and the Virtue of Truth also embodies the punishment of those who would mislead maliciously, and the exposing of lies for what they are. Now, some of you may be saying "Well hold on one moment! Emperor Orphaniel himself lied about being a shipwright for years". This highlights a particularly interesting (and convenient) loophole; for he never lied. Orphaniel is a shipwright regardless of his rank in the Imperium, nor did he ever claim NOT to be the Emperor. So it is revealed that coloring the truth or leaving out rather important details when it is vital to do so is acceptable. (Though you can be sure that this is one case where there's one rule for Jovians when it's convenient for them and another rule for everyone else.) This is also why cloaking or radarjamming technology is so frowned upon. The Virtue of Strength The Virtue of Strength is more than meets the eye. It is not just about brute force, it is certainly not about being the biggest or the most robust in a given situation. It is about strength of character as much as anything. It represents the unified nature of the Jovians, their complete lack of civil strife, their almost absurdly high standard of living. This is strength in every aspect; the weak are not villified by it, only those who submit to their weakness without struggle. Anyone who expects more than they are due offends the Virtue of Strength. The Virtue of Mind Virtue of Mind embodies mental well-being. It is happiness, contentment and doing all one can to ensure that those around you are also content. It promotes community and involvement both in the local sense and in galactic politics. From this was the edict born where Non-Jovians could join the Imperium and practise the Four Great Virtues. The Virtue of Understanding The virtue of understanding is about Science, and not much else. To reach the heights of greatness and power, it is clear the one must understand the world, from atoms to galactic superclusters and beyond. It is also about understanding other species, unknown technologies, and generally getting a grasp of everything ever; For surely Chrinon posessed such divine knowledge to make the universe, then so too must the Jovian Imperium.